Strolling through Snowdin
by Pixel20
Summary: (Spoilers for the second boss of a Pacifist run) Sans catches up with Papyrus and the human after their battle.


The storm suddenly began to calm down. If you could even call that a storm. The heavy flurries quickly returned to gentle flakes. If I know anything about weather patterns, I could bet one thing: my brother just wrapped up doing something dramatic.

On cue, the harsh, piercing howl of the wind diminished and was replaced by the harsh, piercing howl of said brother. Is it a "happy Papyrus screech" or a "sad Papyrus screech?" Only time will tell.

I walked towards the sound, making my way through Snowdin. I wasn't in a rush or anything. If Papyrus is running around the forest doing his weird yelping, then that means he's alive and well. I guess the kid didn't feel the need to hurt him. That's cool.

I gave a reassuring wave to the townspeople as I passed by. They threw me concerned looks. Hey, don't look at me. I don't know what he's yelling about. Before long, I did.

Out from the trees, Papyrus sprinted full-speed. He was waving his arms in the air, a tactic he told me was effective in warding off predators. Unaware of my presence, he ran straight into me. This didn't do anything except knock him off his own feet.

"SANS. YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED."

"okay."

"THE HUMAN SAYS IT WANTS TO…BE FRIENDS WITH ME! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?"

"uh…nope."

"ME NEITHER! BUT IT'S TRUE!"

He sure sounds excited. I decided to check in for just a bit of clarification before this chat went off the rails.

"weren't you trying to capture them?"

"NO. I MEAN, YEAH. I GUESS. BUT THAT'S IN THE PAST. THE HUMAN AND I HAVE GOTTEN OVER OUR DIFFERENCES. WE TALKED IT OUT, LIKE A COUPLE OF REASONABLE ADULTS. THEY HAD SOME VERY CONVINCING ARGUMENTS."

"so all your bones missed."

"ANYWAY. I JUST WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT WE MAY BE HAVING COMPANY OVER SOON."

"is it the human-"

"ACTUALLY, IT'S THE HUMAN! THEY MAY OR MAY NOT BE COMING OVER LATER. TO OUR HOUSE. FOR A SPECIAL VISIT. IT'S SPECIAL AND SECRET AND PERSONAL. I DON'T REALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST."

"okay."

"OKAY, FINE….YES, IT MIGHT BE A DATE. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!"

Spaghetti for two, I assume.

"YOU'VE GOT TO DO YOUR FAIR SHARE, AND CLEAN THE HOUSE. NO MORE OF THAT JUNK LAYING AROUND THE FLOOR. I'M SURE THE HUMAN HAS VERY PARTICULAR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE LIVING QUARTERS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS. BUT ALSO I DON'T FEEL LIKE CLEANING UP YOUR STUFF, SO…..PLEASE?"

"sure thing."

I was sure he was gonna have more instructions for me, but instead he got distracted and just ran off in the woods. I'll have to remember to tidy up later. But first, I decided to find the kid.

They didn't take long to find. I found them wandering back towards town by the eastern entrance. Either they were nervous about making their journey to the King's castle, or they were really pumped for that date.

I didn't know if they were a little spooked from their encounter with my brother, so I gave a gentle wave to try to ease the tension. They noticed and we decided to walk back to Snowdin together.

"my brother seems excited. thanks for not hurting him."

The kid nodded. The look on their face seemed to say they never had any intention to.

"did he do his blue attack? that's always a good one."

The kid stayed quiet, so I changed the subject.

"if you're not in a rush, you can just stay in town for a while. nobody here's gonna hurt ya. we're all pretty friendly once you know us."

"Thank you," they whispered, softly.

I guess that was mostly telling the truth. I mean…we've got all these guards and knights all over the place, but we would only need them for some kind of emergency. They're really not all that scary anyway. The kid had probably figured that out by now.

I was about to make a joke about re-heating that spaghetti that Papyrus had left out in that clearing when one of the town's kids showed up out of breath. It was the yellow one that's always tagging along with the Royal Guard. I forget their name.

"M-…Mister Sans!"

"what's up."

"You gotta come quick! I just heard Papyrus saying he found another human!"

What? Another one? That doesn't make any sense.

"slow down there, bud. are you sure that's what he said? a 'human?' maybe he said he found a…few pins. he tried sewing something once, he could be giving it another shot-"

"I'm definitely sure! He ran past me, then like a minute later I could hear him yelling from the woods. He said he found another human near the Ruins, and was gonna try to capture it!"

This is just another Papyrus thing…right? I was pretty sure, but a small part of me was starting to really lose its cool. Two humans in one day. Could it happen? This one in the striped shirt seems friendly enough, but what if the other one isn't? What if they know each other? Is this a coincidence, or planned? What if my brother got hurt?

Probably time to stop standing around, staring at our feet.

"uh, you stay here."

"What?! No way, I'm coming too!" the yellow kid protested.

"nope. you could get hurt, or something. and if your parents found out i let it happen, they might…i don't know, they might say something mean to me at Grillby's."

After a little more bickering, I managed to get the kid to go home. The human kid stood there, probably unsure of what to do.

"you should come with. let's make sure my brother's okay. plus, you're probably good with humans, right?"

Things could get weird, and I didn't want to let the human kid out of my sight. They could get hurt. Or worse…maybe I'd have to keep my eye on them after all.

The kid rubbed their hands on their sweater, trying to warm up. Guess they're not used to weather like this. I decided to let them borrow my jacket. Didn't bother me.

Without a word, they followed me deep into the forest. We probably looked pretty ridiculous. The human was just a tiny, determined face poking out from a puffy, oversized jacket. I was, well, me. But walking around without my signature get-up? I'd be the talk of the town if someone saw.

I walked in front, but I snuck a glance back at the kid whenever I had the chance. I don't know what, but there's just something about them. They seem…reliable. Young, but smarter than they look. Like someone who would back me up if things suddenly got hairy. I could see myself hanging around with them a bunch if they decided to stay in town. Maybe get some fries, bounce some joke ideas off them.

I really, really hope they're a friend and this isn't some kind of weird human invasion.

Before long, we could hear Papyrus shouting incoherently. The kid's steps quickened. Concern for his new friend? Or maybe they were just keeping up pace. I had barely noticed that my own stride had gotten faster at the thought of Papyrus in trouble.

We came to a clearing, nearly tripping over my brother's body. He was sprawled out in the snow, his arms raised to protect him from his foe. To my surprise, the kid was a step ahead of me. They jumped out in front of my brother, shielding him with their own body.

Their hands, clumsy in my oversized jacket, fumbled to retrieve their small knife. Once armed, they stood shaking in the deep snow, ready to defend themselves against whoever was squared off against my brother. I'm sure Papyrus will be telling me all about this tale of bravery for days to come, even though I'm right here seeing it myself.

I got a better look at our second human.

"that's…a log. with some leaves on it."

"IT LUNGED OUT AT ME. IT'S FEROCIOUS."

"isn't that the log you had a week ago? you even carved the word 'Human' into it. you tried giving it puzzles, i think?"

It was, and he did. The log wasn't as cooperative as the striped shirt human ended up being.

"SANS. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME IN FRONT OF THE HUMAN. BEFORE OUR DATE, NO LESS! NOT COOL!"

Yeah, I guess not. That's my bad.

Just a log. That's good. I looked over at the human, still looking kind of silly in my jacket. To me, Papyrus shouting about something isn't really new. But they were really going to jump right in and put their life on the line to protect us?

Y'know…that's pretty cool.


End file.
